Food Safety: Avoid Getting Sick From Your Food
Food can be unsafe for all age groups for a lot of different reasons. For toddlers, choking on food is one of the biggest hazards parents worry about. Food poisoning, unknown allergies, and poor preparation can affect all ages.
How to Avoid Getting Sick From Your Food
As a senior, there is a much higher risk that a food illness can develop into a life-threatening situation. To avoid this, there are a few things you should always do to help avoid any food illnesses.
- If you are cooking a meat-based protein (chicken, beef, pork) make sure you are cooking it to the minimum internal temperature required. For example, chicken’s minimum internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The best practice would be to buy a kitchen thermometer to double-check your meals.
- Drink pasteurized milk and juices instead of the unpasteurized versions.
- Make sure pasteurized eggs or egg products are used in recipes that call for raw or undercooked eggs, such as homemade Caesar salad dressings, raw cookie dough, or eggnog.
- Always wash vegetables, including all salad ingredients, before eating. Cooked vegetables also are a lower-risk option than raw vegetables.
- Choose cooked sprouts instead of raw sprouts.
- Choose hard or processed cheeses, cream cheese, or mozzarella, or any cheese that is clearly labeled “Made from Pasteurized Milk” instead of soft cheese made from unpasteurized (raw) milk, such as Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, or queso fresco.
- Heat up hot dogs, deli meats, and luncheon meats to 165 °F (steaming hot), instead of eating the meat unheated.
Changing Taste and Smell
As you grow older, your senses of taste and smell might change. Some illnesses, like COVID-19, or health conditions can change your senses of smell and taste. Certain medicines might also make things taste different. If you can’t rely on your sense of taste or smell to tell that food is spoiled, be extra careful about how you handle your food. If something doesn’t look, smell, or taste right, throw it out — don’t take a chance with your health.
Smart Storage
Food safety starts with storing your food properly. Sometimes that’s as simple as following directions on the container. For example, if the label says “refrigerate after opening,” do that! It’s also a good idea to keep any canned and packaged items in a cool place.
- When you are ready to use a packaged food, check the date on the label. That bottle of juice might have been in your cabinet so long it is now out of date.
- Try to use refrigerated leftovers within 3 or 4 days to reduce your risk of food poisoning. Throw away foods older than that or those that show moldy areas.
- For recommended refrigerator and freezer storage times for common foods, download our Storing Cold Food tip sheet (PDF, 75K).
Foods and Medicines
Some foods, and also caffeine and alcohol, are unsafe to take with certain medicines. A food-medicine interaction can prevent a medicine from working the way it should, cause a side effect from a medicine to get worse, cause a new side effect, or change the way your body processes the food or medicine. For example, some statins (cholesterol medicines) act differently on the body if you consume large amounts of grapefruit juice. Every time you use a new medicine, check the label for interactions. If you have any questions, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
What If I’m Going To a Restaurant to Eat?
It’s always nice to take a break from cooking or get together with others for a meal at a restaurant. But you should be sure to still be taking precautions with your food safety.
- Pick a tidy place with clean tables and floors.
- If your city or state requires restaurants to post a cleanliness rating near the front door, check it out.
- Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter or waitress how items on the menu are prepared. For example, could you have the tuna cooked well instead of seared? Or, if you find out the Caesar salad dressing is made with raw eggs, ask for another salad dressing.
- Consider avoiding buffets. Sometimes food in buffets sits out for a while and might not be kept at the proper temperature — whether hot or cold.
- If you take leftovers home, get them into the refrigerator within 2 hours — sooner if the temperature outside is above 90 °F.
